“All right, doctor,” Jo said after Pennington was gone. “You can reset her nose now. Can you estimate how old the injuries to her face are?”
“Less than twenty-four hours I’d guess,” Wayne said as he snapped Clare’s broken nose back into alignment. “It’ll be about a week before the bruising fades and the swelling goes down,” he said. “She has numerous bruises on her torso as well and they weren’t there when Beutler brought her here. She couldn’t possibly have gotten them by tripping and falling. If you need me to I’d be more than happy to give a statement or testify to that.”
“Ripley, take the doctor’s statement while I confer with our client,” Jo said in a low voice. “Use one of the empty cells.”
Clare leaned back against the cell wall behind her cot. Jo pulled a wooden crate closer to the bunk and sat down. “Clare, I need to hear your version of what happened the night Thaddeus Garner and Jack Coulter were killed.”
“I shot them before they shot me,” Clare answered.
“Why would they want to shoot you?”
“I had a fight earlier that day with Garner’s son. I caught him in my house where he was attempting to rape my housekeeper.”
“Loretta Digby,” Jo said rather than ask.
“I guess so. She told me her name was Loretta Langford and that she was Reverend Langford’s sister-in-law when I hired her. I learned the truth that same day.”
“Did you go looking for Garner?”
“No. I came to town looking for Coulter. Garner was a bonus.”
“Did he attack you for fighting with his son earlier in the day?”
“He had a couple of his men rough me up some then told me to get my rifle. I’m not sure what he had in mind, but it probably wasn’t getting killed.”
“According to the report of the incident, Garner didn’t have a chance to draw his weapon.”
“That’s right. Obviously he wasn’t fast enough.”
“Witnesses say you shot him twice before the others had a chance to open fire. Is that correct?”
“Sounds about right.”
“So you don’t deny you killed him?”
“No.”
“Truthfully, Clare that isn’t going to help your case.”
“Thaddeus Garner was the leader of a bunch of marauders who attacked my family twenty years ago.
They murdered my parents and my eight-year-old brother. He was carrying my father’s pocket watch the night he died. I couldn’t believe the damn thing was still working after all those years. When I saw it that night I took justice and I’d do it again in a minute. I gave him a better chance than he gave my family.”
“You can’t take the law into your own hands.”
“Sometimes that’s the only kind that works. Thad Garner was a powerful man around here. He’s been trying to run me off my property since the day he came to Trinidad.”
“What about Coulter?”
“He came to town a few days before I shot him looking for someone he said had worked for him and stolen money from him. He wanted to have her arrested and sent back to St. Joe to stand trial. Once he started asking questions around town, it would have destroyed Retta’s reputation as well as that of Reverend Langford and his wife and the young girl living with them. At the very least they would have been forced out of town.”
“What do you know about Loretta’s past before she came here?”
“Nothin’. After she was attacked by Clement she told me she was a prostitute and worked for Jack Coulter, but had never stolen money from him. I believe her. No matter what happens to me, I don’t want any of them dragged into it.”
“They may have to testify at your trial.”
“No! I’ll plead guilty. If you want to waste your time defending me then fine. But the minute you ask them to be a witness, I’ll stand up in court and confess. I admit I shot at Jack. But that was after he’d already shot me. At best my shot was a wild one.”
“The record shows he was shot in the back.”
“The bullet must have gone through him and the doctor was confused. No one else but me could have shot him.”
“Without witnesses to the whole incident you haven’t left me with much to work with,” Jo sighed.
“The prosecution will almost certainly call Clement Garner to testify against you. If Jack told him about Loretta’s past the town will learn the truth anyway.”
“Guess I should have killed him too instead of just wounding him.”
“That sounds pre-meditated, Clare. Don’t say that to anyone else. You’ve given me quite a few things to look into and I’ll do the best I can to prevent a hanging. You sure you don’t want to see Loretta?”
“Positive. Everyone in town thinks I’m crazy already. I can’t think of any reason to change their minds now.”
“Not even to save your own life?”
“I don’t have a life any more. I thought I did for a while, but it was only wishful thinking.”
“Do you love Loretta?”
Clare barked out a laugh. “If I admitted something like that, I’d be hung as a pervert and you know it.”
“She’s a beautiful woman.”
“She’s a girl and confused. She was temporarily led astray by an older woman who took advantage of her.” Clare’s voice was resigned and bitter. She lowered her eyes and rubbed them with the heel of her hands. “She’ll find a good man to care for her when this is all over and live a normal life. I’m tired and would like to get some rest now.”
“I’ll be back tomorrow,” Jo said as she stood up.
“By the way, was there an inscription on your father’s watch?”
“Some initials and a date. T. M. from A. M. 2/14/
1856. It was a gift from my mother the year we moved west.”
LORETTA WAS DISAPPOINTED when they
returned to the hotel a few hours later. She hadn’t been allowed to see or speak to Clare since her arrest.
Jo placed her satchel on the bed and removed her hat.
“Ripley, would you be a dear and let me speak to Retta alone for a few minutes?”
“I’ll look over the notes I took today and make of list of witnesses we need to speak to.”
“Good. See if you can arrange meetings with them sometime this week.”
Ripley gathered a few papers and stuffed them into his briefcase and left the hotel room.
Jo poured water into the bowl on the dresser and washed her face, drying it slowly with a small towel.
“Clare doesn’t want to see you, Retta.”
“But why?” Loretta said, exasperated. “She knows how much I care about her.”
“She’s trying to protect you,” Jo answered with a slight grin. “Or at least protect your reputation.”
Loretta laughed bitterly. “It might not sound very lady-like, but I’d say that was already shot to shit.
Jack’s told everyone I’m a whore and a thief. I haven’t been involved with anyone other than Clare since I arrived here last May.”
“ Jack’s dead and he can’t repeat it now.”
“People will believe him. Hell, Clement Garner believed it enough to attempt to rape me and he’s still alive to spread the rumor.”
“Did he give you money or offer to?”
“Not this time. He tried to buy my services months before he met Jack. I turned him down then, but if Clare hadn’t returned to the ranch when she did, he would have gotten what he wanted anyway after he’d spoken to Jack.”
Jo stood next to Loretta and caressed her face.
“You are a lovely young woman, Retta. Any man would want you. I can easily understand that.” She removed her hand, leaving Loretta’s face suddenly cold, and sat on the edge of the bed. She leaned forward and rested her elbow on her knees. “I have to be honest with you, Retta. I’m not sure I can save Clare and your reputation.”
“I don’t give a damn about my reputation!”
“Reverend Langford, his wife, and Amelia might be hurt a
s well. Clare doesn’t want anyone to be injured by her actions. I’ll need to speak to them.
Clare has forbidden me from calling you as a witness.
She’ll confess to murder if I attempt it. She’s tying my hands as far as her defense is concerned. I think we might be able to win on the murder charge involving Thaddeus Garner, but she’ll probably be found guilty for murdering Jack Coulter. I can’t defend her against that charge without involving you and the Langfords.”
“Cyrus would be forced to leave Trinidad,”
Loretta said solemnly.
“It’s an extremely complex case. No matter what I do, someone will lose.”
“What can I do, Jo?”
“I don’t know yet. Give me and Ripley a few days to investigate. I’ll be pressing charges myself against Sheriff Beutler.”
“Sheriff Beutler hates Clare. He worked for Thad Garner,” Loretta said.
“I figured something was going on between them.” Jo took Loretta’s hands in her own and held them. “Beutler left Clare in her cell alone and the office unlocked. While he was gone someone went in and worked Clare over. Doctor Wayne has given us a statement about her injuries, none of which she had the day before. Ripley has sent a telegram to Denver requesting extra protection, but that might take a few days. Or it might never happen.”
“I can get Ino or some of Clare’s men to come into town and guard her.”
“What exactly is your relationship with Clare? She refuses to discuss it.”
“Suffice it to say it’s of a personal nature.”
“That’s another subject of concern. If a jury learns you and Clare are intimately, sexually, involved, I can guarantee she won’t have a chance at trial. She could get the death penalty for that alone. In a bigger city, I might be able to defend it, but that’s unlikely in Trinidad.”
“When you speak to her again, tell her I don’t care about my reputation. If you can get her acquitted, I’ll go anywhere so we can be together. I’ll do whatever I have to to save her.”
JO AND RIPLEY settled into hard wooden chairs at a table in the Cattleman’s Saloon. Jo was tired and stretched her legs out and wiggled her toes inside her shoes while Ripley ordered drinks. He set the glasses of beer on the table when he rejoined Jo and removed his hat. Jo took a long drink and made a face as she set the glass back down. “I’d have to already be drunk to drink this,” she said. With a smile she added, “It will make me glad to get back home and have a real drink.”
“It’s wet,” Ripley said with a shrug. “The bartender is Willis Manning and that stunning redhead he’s talking to is Mavis Calendar. She’s responsible for the girls who work here.”
“See if you can get them over here to talk to us separately.”
Ripley strolled back to the bar and spoke to Willis and Mavis for a moment before returning to their table accompanied by Mavis. Mavis Calendar was obviously older than the other girls in the saloon, but that didn’t detract from her attractiveness.
Mavis smiled down at Jo, who was in the process of appreciating Mavis’ body from head-to-toe.
“Something special I can do for you?” Mavis asked suggestively.
“Please, have a seat,” Jo answered. “Can we buy you a drink?” When Mavis declined, Jo leaned forward and lowered her voice slightly. “My associate, Mr. Sinclair, and I are representing Clare McIlhenney. We’d like to ask you a few questions.”
“Fire away. I didn’t see much, but will tell you what I can.”
“Just tell us the truth without embellishing. Did you witness the shooting the night Thaddeus Garner and Jack Coulter were killed?”
“Didn’t see old man Garner get shot, but I did see Coulter go down after he shot Clare.”
“Did you see her fire at him?”
“He was mostly in the dark behind her. He shot first and she got a round off from her rifle in his direction. Can’t say for sure she hit him even though she doesn’t miss what she’s aimin’ at very often.
Looked like she was trying to buy a little time to get out of the line of fire. Next thing I know Coulter fell.”
“So Clare and Coulter were facing one another?”
“Yep.”
“And she couldn’t have shot him in the back.”
“Clare wouldn’t do that. Not her way.”
“So you didn’t see her get shot by anyone other than Coulter?”
“Nope. It was mostly over before I got to the door.
How’s she doin’?”
“Probably been better. What do you know about the problems between Clare and Mr. Garner?”
“All the Garners are trouble. Old man Garner’s been trying to run Clare off her land as long as he’s been here. About the last ten years or so. He claimed she didn’t own her property legally and was always causing trouble. Especially after she began putting up barbed wire a few months ago.”
“Were there bad feelings between Clare and Clement Garner as well?”
“Hell yeah! That little prick always thought he was some kind of stud. Made a move on Loretta when she worked at the café next door. Clare embarrassed him real bad in front of his daddy and a few of their hands.”
“We’ve been told he offered her money to service him. Is that true?”
“That’s what I heard, but I didn’t see or hear him do it. Ino Vasquez might have though. Him and Frank Carson were eating dinner in the café, along with Clare, that night.”
Jo cast a look at Ripley and saw him writing the names down. “Is there anything else you can tell us about either Clare McIlhenney or Thaddeus Garner?”
“Clare’s a good woman. Garner was a born asshole.”
Jo smiled. “If possible, I’d like to speak to Mr.
Manning now.”
“I’ll send him over,” Mavis said as she stood up.
“Check into the property thing, Ripley. See if there’s a title at the land office,” Jo told her assistant while they waited for Willis Manning to join them.
JO LIFTED HER skirt as she made her way through the snow to the front steps of Cyrus and Hettie Langford’s home. Ripley leaned past her when they reached the door and knocked three times.
“Do you honestly think these people will be willing to destroy their own lives by telling us the truth?”
“You never know what people will do when they’re stressed,” Jo answered.
A moment later the front door swung open and the two attorneys were greeted by a smiling, friendly-looking man in his late thirties. “Yes,” he said. “Can I help you?”
“My name is Josephine Barclay and this is my associate, Mr. Ripley Sinclair.”
Cyrus nodded toward Jo and shook Ripley’s hand.
“What can I do for you?”
“We represent Clare McIlhenney and would like to ask you a few questions,” Jo stated.
“I don’t know anything about that unfortunate event. I wasn’t there,” Cyrus said, raising his chin slightly.
“I understand that, Reverend Langford, but I believe you knew at least one of the men who were killed.”
“Actually, I knew them both, but...,” Cyrus began.
“Let them in, Cyrus.” Loretta stood on the bottom step of the staircase to the second floor. “It’s rude to leave them standing on the porch like door-to-door salesmen while you look as if you’re preparing to shut the door in their faces. I asked them to come to Trinidad.”
Cyrus frowned, but opened the door farther and motioned Jo and Ripley inside. “We can go into my study for privacy,” he suggested as he led the way.
Cyrus looked decidedly uncomfortable when he took a seat behind his desk.
Jo pulled a sheaf of paper and a writing instrument from her bag and leaned back in the chair she had taken in front of the desk. “In what capacity did you know Thaddeus Garner, Reverend?”
“I knew who he was and saw him in town, but we never spoke.”
“He wasn’t a member of your flock?”
“No. I have no idea what his rel
igious affiliation was.”
“And Jack Coulter?”
Cyrus’ eyes shifted to Loretta and he hesitated.
“I’ve already given my statement, Cyrus. I told the truth,” Loretta said.
“I knew Jack Coulter from the visits I made to his brothel in St. Joe. Other than taking my money for services rendered, we never spoke much and certainly weren’t friends,” Cyrus said clearly in clipped wording.
“When did you learn Mr. Coulter was in Trinidad?”
“Amelia came home from work at Rosario’s two or three nights before the shooting,” he answered, looking down at his hands which were tightly clasped in front of him on his desk.
“What did she tell you about her meeting with Coulter?”
“She said he was telling everyone about Loretta.
He tried to get Amelia to tell him where Loretta was, injuring and frightening her in the process.”
“Amelia worked for Coulter in St. Joe, didn’t she?”
“She’s just a child!” Cyrus railed. “For God’s sake, Loretta. Amelia can’t be brought into this.”
“Amelia helped you and a woman named Hettie Tobias rescue Loretta after Coulter tried to kill her, didn’t she?”
“Yes. She knew I had been Loretta’s ‘client’,”
Cyrus said, his face turning red from embarrassment.
“She found me at my hotel and took me back to Jack’s place of business. Then she found a safe place to take Loretta. Hettie helped get Loretta and Amelia out of St. Joe and is now my wife.”
“Congratulations,” Jo said with a smile. “Since Mr. Coulter apparently told everyone he met about Loretta’s past it’s possible, in fact probable, you and Mrs. Langford will be called to testify at Miss McIlhenney’s trial. Amelia, as well, about her assault by Coulter.”
“I cannot permit Amelia to testify. She’s a girl and has a new life here. We’d all be forced to leave town in the middle of the night.”
“I understand the consequences, Reverend. That’s why I am here today. Miss McIlhenney doesn’t want you involved because she also understands the consequences. I’ll do what I can, but cannot promise anything. Needless to say, you cannot leave town until this matter is cleared up by a jury.”
“I warned you about associating with that woman!” Cyrus stormed. “We’ve had nothing but trouble since you insisted on living out there.”
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